There are Pokémon and characters that were just a few of many different designs that Game Freak created. Only a few were added, and even those often went through redesigns before making it into the final product.

Nothing is known about this first Pokémon 'Godzillante'. It may have been Fire-type, as it is shown to be breathing fire. As its name implies, it was most likely based on Godzilla. Godzillante notably shares a resemblance to one of the fake Pokémon toys shown in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga Volume 1 (p. 107). The Japanese name of Tyranitar is also based on Godzilla. Nothing is known about the second Pokémon 'Gorillaimo'. Its hat could be a reference to the character Ninten from the Ape Inc. game, Mother. It also resembles the Nintendo character Donkey Kong. Gorillaimo could also be based on King Kong. Later generations have introduced many ape-based Pokémon. Slaking is the most notable, as it shares the most physical traits with Gorillaimo.

This Pokémon's Pokédex number is #174, the same as Igglybuff's. It knows a move called 'Fire Breath' that requires 70 TP. It has short arms, a long tail, two horns on the back of its head and average dragon-like wings, just like Charizard.

Not much is know about this Pokémon, except that it is roughly humanoid with a body shape similar to a Jigglypuff. It was seen being captured by an early protagonist without being weakened first; in fact, no Pokémon were sent out.

Pokémon designs

Kurusu

The only known information about this creature is its name and image. In the playable alpha demo of Gold and Silver, its National Pokédex number was 212, it was a Water-type, and knew the moves Growl, Water Gun, and Tackle. Despite its Pokédex numbering, it was the Water-type starter in said demo. Since it resembles a seal, some fans believe it may have inspired Spheal's design, but they are no more similar than either of them is to Seel.

Like Kurusu above, its name and image are all that is known about it. While not confirmed, its name, a combination of 炎 honō, flame, and 熊 kuma, bear, almost definitely indicates it was a Fire-type Pokémon. In the alpha, it was a Fire-type, and knew the moves Ember, Scratch, and Leer; it was the Fire-type starter. Given its name refers to it as a bear, some fans believe it could have been an early version of the Teddiursa evolution family.

Artwork was created for this strange creature, even though it was never given a name. Its extremely odd appearance is somewhat similar to Hitmontop; namely, the multiple feet around its midsection. Although this creature has its point located on its bottom, and Hitmontop has its point located on its head, this creature may have been redesigned as Hitmontop. Due to its size, it would seem unlikely that it was originally part of the Tyrogue evolution line. It also bears some resemblance to Clefairy.

Nothing is known about this Pokémon, nor is there any artwork of it known to exist. Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori revealed in an interview with @Gamer magazine that there was a rejected Pokémon design based on the first cloned sheep, Dolly. They removed it after deeming it "too controversial" for Pokémon. Since Dolly was born almost eight months after the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green, it is likely that this Pokémon would have been intended for Generation II.

The evolution of Kasanagi. This was one of several Pokémon sprites shown on Game Freak's official Japanese website circa 1997, labelled as "undecided". Like its pre-evolution, it was replaced by Beedrill, but it somewhat resembles Ledian and a cockroach.

An early version of Poliwrath. This was one of several Pokémon sprites shown on Game Freak's official Japanese website circa 1997. Notably it is wearing a crown, similar to the King's Rock necessary to evolve Poliwhirl into Politoed.

Not much is known about this Pokémon, except that its name roughly means "Rock." It was shown being released from a Monster Capsule. It seems to have features of a Rhydon, shrunken down to fit into the ball.

Happa's name simply means "leaf" in Japanese. Happa is the early version of Chikorita. Happa resembles Chikorita without its body and legs. In the alpha, its Pokédex number was 152 and it knew the moves Leech Seed, Tackle, and an unknown move called "Serene".

An early version of Ledyba. Unlike the final design, it has a black abdomen rather than a cream colored one. It also has a single pair of hands, and a pair of feet, and it appears to be headless, with its eyes and antenna attached to its body.

An early version of Marill. While they are recognizably similar, they are visually quite different. The pink/purple color is the main difference as well as the notably missing large ears. It also sports a thinner body, more resembling a rodent, but does not sport Marill's erratic tail pattern, though with this being a concept art, small details were most likely not a concern at the time.

This concept art of Girafarig shows the original design contained two full-sized giraffe heads, instead of the final version's one. It is also unknown why the design was changed, but overall it remains mostly similar outside of some coloring differences (though, because this is concept art, specific coloring details were most likely not considered at the time). This design might be reference to Girafarig's name being a palindrome.

Bukū's name is derived from "fugu", the Japanese word for blowfish. It is most likely an early version of Qwilfish. Notable differences between Qwilfish and this pre-release version are the colors, and shape of the tail. Notably, the shape of the tail does appear slightly similar to the length of the tail in Qwilfish's Generation II back sprite. However, this was just an error and no other generation shows Qwilfish's tail that short.

This early version of Torchic shows its lower body covered by an eggshell, with the fluff going all around its neck and wing-shaped ears. The other early design is nearly identical to the current Torchic, aside from the large floppy ears, rather than its final design's flame shaped feathers on its head, and a flame-shaped marking on the back of its head.

Sometimes referred to as Latiaziken or Latiken by fans, this early image from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire depicts a creature with traits of both Latias and Blaziken. In appearance, it more closely resembles Blaziken. However, some features, including the size, are more similar to Latias. Some of its features do not resemble those of either Pokémon, such as the hands.

Prototype back sprites of Shellos and Gastrodon show an another form for each. These forms are possibly leftovers from when Shellos and Gastrodon were planned to be in Generation III. Shellos's sprite is pink, like its West Sea variation, and seems to combine the western variation's head with the Eastern variation's body, while Gastrodon's sprite is brown and looks like its Western variation, but with more rock-like protrusions on its body.

Hydreigon's evolutionary line was originally meant to be army/military styled Dragon designs.

Ken Sugimori: "Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon. At first, these incorporated an army tank motif, and the marks that look like a conveyor belt on the upper part of Zweilous’s legs are the remnants of that. Initially, they didn’t work as designs and were basically ‘put to sleep’, however, a three-stage powerful Dragon-type family was ordered and they were resurrected."

Minor alterations

In this early depiction of a battle, Blastoise is without its signature water cannons. In its original context, this picture is captioned "Karabajio VS. Mimii", which are not the names of any known Pokémon.

An early version of Lapras. While they are recognizably similar, they are visually quite different. Notably Lapras's curly ears are not present. Under the chin the pattern appears different, blending in with the texture of the rest of the head. There are also no visible appendages or tail but that may be due to the water. However, it bears a striking resemblance to its Generation I back sprite. Also in the sketch is an early design of Red.

The "arms" on Kakuna seen in its Red and Blue sprite are commonly mistaken to be a sprite error, as they are rarely shown in any other media. They have so far only been shown on its Red and Blue sprite and a Pocket Monsters Carddass Trading Card.

Both early artwork of Bellossom and its Gold and Silver artwork show that it was originally to be a similar color to its other evolutionary relatives. A possible explanation for this change would be the intention to avoid another racial controversy, as the original Bellossom design appears similar to traditional polynesian dress. However, this is unlikely to be the case.

This early version of Tyranitar is nearly identical to the design seen in the finalized Gold and Silver versions. It was shown alongside two unnamed Pokémon (seen in the section above) on the cover of a Japanese gaming magazine, where it was the only early design to become a released Pokémon. It has very few differences compared to the final version. Of these differences, the early Tyranitar design is more heavy-set, has a tan rather than indigo belly, has arms more reminiscent of Nidoking, and dozens of short spikes upon its back rather than a few long ones. It seems peculiar that Tyranitar was nearly completed at the time, but the other two featured Pokémon were never seen in their original designs.

Concept art of Treecko shows numerous designs for the creature before the final design was decided. Many of these early sketches more closely resemble real geckos than the final product, which would later gain a more elongated head shape and a rounder nose.

In its early design, it had a different shape to its eyes, one more set of spikes on the torso, one less spike on the tail, one of the spikes on the neck moved to the head on the final design, overall shapes are much less sharp, head details became much more elongated in the final version, and the weather trio signature body markings are not present.

According to interviews with Ken Sugimori in Nintendo Dream, during development, Sawk and Throh both had horns making them look more like Oni. However, they were replaced with eyebrows so as not to clash with Tornadus and Thundurus, who both were originally designed to be red and blue, like Throh and Sawk.

Stunfisk was originally designed with an Angler Fish in mind, but obviously turned out a bit different. It was also a Water/Electric type but was changed to Ground/Electric to balance out the type spread of Pokémon.

Unreleased characters

Shopkeeper

Early Capsule Monsters artwork was shown in the book Satoshi Tajiri: A Man Who Created Pokémon, revealing an unknown male character running a shop, or what would possibly become an early version of the Poké Mart. The character is almost bald, has long eyebrows and appears to be overweight. He is presented in a similar art style to the sumo enemies from Game Freak's debut title, Quinty (localized as Mendel Palace).

This art of a female character (with Squirtle) was featured on the cover artwork for the official strategy guide for Red and Green, as published by Shogakukan. A similar character appears severaltimes in unofficial artbooks that came packaged with Pokémon origami sets (bottom). The artbooks were, however, illustrated by Emiko Yoshino rather than Ken Sugimori. When Red and Green were later remade, players finally got the chance to use a female player character who was possibly based on this character.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, a similar artwork appeared at the end of Volume 3 (right). The design of the character Green seems to have drawn inspiration from this unknown female character. After the release of FireRed and LeafGreen, Green donned the same outfit as the female player character in the fifth chapter of the manga, namely due to their near exact resemblance.

This unnamed female Trainer art was revealed in a magazine prior to Generation II but never officially released. It is unknown who this Trainer was supposed to represent, be it a main character, a supporting character, or just an NPC. Visually, she has similarities to multiple Trainer classes. Her age and appearance make her appear similar to a Beauty or Cool Trainer, but her outfit is similar to a Lass or Picnicker. There is an object on her shirt that looks like what could have been a Gym Badge. This Badge has a rain drop on it, meaning she could have been a Water-type Gym Leader.

Hiding in the background of the same magazine as the female Trainer above was a male Trainer that was never used. As with the female Trainer, it is unknown if he was designed as a main character, or supporting character, or was simply representing a Trainer class. He has hints of multiple classes, such as a Tamer, Psychic, Juggler, Burglar, PokéManiac, Gambler and a male Rocket Executive. There is an object on his bandana that looks like what could have been a Gym Badge. This Badge has a red diamond on it. Due to the dark colors used and the fact that he is pictured with Tyranitar, it is possible he was a Dark-type Gym Leader.

There is an unused Trainer seen riding Latiken in early concept art. It is difficult to tell whether she was intended to be a playable character, rival, or supporting character. This character has a strong resemblance to an unknown character shown riding Latios in official artwork.

Unknown cries

Within the coding of Pokémon Red and Blue, data exists for nine unused Pokémon cries. [1] The cries are defined accordingly to the Pokémon's index numbers. Whereas cry data for 30 Missingno. are left blank, resulting in voice 0 (Nidorino), pitch 0 and length 0 cries, there are a number of remaining cries which appear to have been defined intentionally. Cry 181 is notably similar to Crobat's cry in Gold and Silver.

In a leaked German version of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, labelled 'Debugging Version 0509A' the cries of Pokémon with index numbers 252-276 are playable in the 'Driver Test' menu. Although these Pokémon normally correspond with ?, they have the cries of existing Pokémon exclusively to the Driver Test, suggesting that they may have once been real Pokémon.